Bersin by Deloitte Predictions: Employers Will Be Challenged to Re-engineer the Workplace to Attract, Engage and Manage People in 2015

OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Employers will be challenged to re-engineer the workplace, rethink jobs and reshape the way to attract, engage and manage people if they are to drive business performance amidst a growing global economy in 2015. Those are among the top new predictions for the year ahead from Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Organizations should focus on bold, innovative strategies to develop leaders, engage employees and foster a healthy workplace culture if they want to succeed in a global environment where competition for talent will be fierce, according to the new insights in "Predictions for 2015: Redesigning the Organization for a Rapidly Changing World." Available both to Bersin WhatWorks® members and on a complimentary basis to non-members, the new Predictions report provides an annual review of the key business, training and talent management imperatives and trends HR and business leaders should consider in strategic planning and budgeting to drive their business forward in the year ahead.

"The global economic recovery, rapid growth of millennials in the global workforce, a 24/7 work environment, and technology-driven transparency everywhere are redefining the entire nature of work," said Josh Bersin, principal, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Amidst these new challenges, many traditional challenges remain. Eighty-three percent¹ of companies are seriously worried about their leadership pipelines. In fact, Deloitte's recent 'Business Confidence Report 2014' indicates that 50 percent of leaders who have expressed ambition to become part of the C-suite cite 'little or no access to leadership training' as one of the main obstacles to assuming greater leadership roles."

Retention and engagement remain the No. 2 issue² around the world, creating a whole new focus on employee wellness and happiness as an HR strategy. A healthy workplace culture is equally important. "If we measure and understand our organization's culture well, we can then hire and develop as leaders those people who fit and use our culture to drive performance and alignment," Bersin said.

The report includes 10 predictions that highlight many of the enormous changes underway in the workplace. In addition to predicting that companies will focus on global leadership development, engagement and culture, directions for 2015 include the following:

• The redesign of performance management will likely continue. A more agile, transparent model for feedback is emerging as many people working in teams, and new social tools let people share goals, recognition and work-related information in a transparent way. This new model has been shown to create much higher levels of performance and innovation.
• Time to address the overwhelmed employee. As more technology floods the workplace (smart watches, wearable devices and even smarter phones), HR should take a hard look at the entire work environment. Among potential solutions to consider are systems that reduce commute time and allow people to choose when and where they work.
• Skills are now currency; corporate learning takes on increasing importance. Look for an explosion in availability of high-quality, low-cost content from massive open online courses, learning management systems that provide learning recommendations and smart learning paths for employees, and mobile learning applications that look more like on-the-job performance support.
• Invest, refocus and redesign talent acquisition – leveraging network recruiting, brand reach and new technologies. In addition to marketing their organization and career opportunities, organizations should also market their mission, purpose, leadership team and work experience. Millennials and high performers look at all of these factors in an employer today.
• Talent analytics and workforce planning become imperative for competitive advantage. Now is the time to bring together the reporting and analytics teams in recruiting, compensation, engagement, learning and leadership, and assembling a plan to evaluate your workforce with a holistic data perspective.
• Revisit your HR technology plan, reduce core vendors, and look for innovative new solutions that drive high levels of value. Look for vendors that are making a major investment in mobile applications and mobile HR applications. Also seek vendors that have a plan and program to deliver embedded analytics.
• Review and redesign roles and structure of your HR team and invest in HR professional development. For example, reduce the number of HR generalists and replace them with a fewer number of senior HR business partners. Shift the focus of "centers of expertise" to "networks of expertise" so that specialists in recruitment, training and other parts of HR all connect to each other, and some are embedded in the business.

To learn more about these trends, download a complimentary copy of "Predictions for 2015: Redesigning the Organization for a Rapidly Changing World."

Register to join Josh Bersin for his online webinar, "Predictions for 2015: Redesigning the Organization for a Rapidly Changing World," at 2 p.m. EST / 19:00 GMT, Jan. 23, 2015.

Those interested in learning more about Bersin by Deloitte or its WhatWorks® membership may email [email protected] or call +1 510 251 4400.

About Bersin by Deloitte
Bersin by Deloitte delivers research-based people strategies designed to help leaders and their organizations in their efforts to deliver exceptional business performance. Our WhatWorks® membership gives Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 HR professionals the information and tools they need to design and implement leading practice solutions, benchmark against others, develop their staff, and select and implement systems. A piece of Bersin by Deloitte research is downloaded on average approximately every minute during the business day. More than 5,000 organizations worldwide use our research and consulting to guide their HR, talent and learning strategies. For more information, please visit http://www.deloitte.com/bersin or http://www.bersin.com.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte Consulting LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see http://www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

¹ Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2014
² Ibid.

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